Until the advent of touch tone signaling by a keyboard having an array of push buttons, nearly all telephones in a system having a large number of subscribers were of the type having a rotary mechanism for generating pulsed electrical signals when a number was dialed. In recent years increased interest has arisen in telephones of unconventional shapes and although a number of such telephones have been marketed, all have used either the rotary dial mechanism or the tone signaling push button keyboard.